Throw it away the right way: HazMobile disposes of toxic stuff

The first few hours of collection at the HazMobile were a bit slow, with only 30 people braving the cold to drop off their hazardous household waste.

"We hardly ever get a truck full," said Randy Banta, a hazardous materials technician, taking a few random items from a car that had pulled up to the collection site, located across the street from the Ukiah Valley Waste Transfer Station on Taylor Drive.

As if Banta had tempted fate, however, the next vehicle to pull up was a full-size pickup truck with a very full bed of items for him to unload, including lots of cleaning fluids and fertilizers.

Also collecting and sorting items Saturday was David Gibson, who said the drive-up area was specially designed to contain spills if they occurred.

Those dropping off items are directed to stop their vehicles and turn off their engines. If spills do occur, the area beneath the vehicles is sloped toward a drain that will collect the liquids.

Jennifer Silva, office manager for the HazMobile, said some of the most common items dropped off are oil, batteries and paint.

All batteries, even the small ones, contain acid that gets released into the ground if they are thrown into the kitchen garbage can and reach a landfill, Silva said.

The household paint that is dropped off is recycled, Silva said, explaining that it is made into "new, latex outdoor paint" that is available for free in five-gallon buckets.

Banta mixed a few new containers Saturday, explaining that the paint is recommended for outdoor use because the donated paint is a mix of both indoor and outdoor.

Five colors of recycled paint are available: brown, tan, gray, green and "sometimes white." Banta said they collect some "crazy colors," and any color can be mixed into one of those five barrels.

Lavender? "That would go in the gray," he said.

While most people know they can't throw out paint, Silva said a lot of people may not know they can't throw out medications.

"They think they can flush them down the toilet," she said, explaining that the ingredients eventually reach the water supply that way.

Fluorescent bulbs, anti-freeze and aerosol cans, even those with hair spray, should not be thrown out "unless they are completely empty," she said.

Another concern are needles, she said, adding that many people "put them in the recycling bins, but since they separate the recycling by hand, that puts the employees at risk."

Gibson said the HazMobile collects items every Tuesday, and the second Saturday of every month.

For more information on how to dispose of household waste, call the HazMobile Hotline at 468-9704, or visit: www.mendoRecycle.org